Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done on Earth…

How many times have you prayed this prayer? I’ll bet you’ve prayed this prayer so often that it’s embedded in your brain. You can recite it instantly. The truths held within the words of this prayer are astounding and life-changing.

Now I want to ask you if you understand and believe what you’re saying when you “recite” the Lord’s Prayer. You may say you do, but let’s get a bit more inquisitive and see whether these things are so.

Thy Kingdom Come

Now, how often did Jesus talk about the Kingdom of God when he waled the earth? Often. So often that it boggles the mind to think Christians today know little of what the Kingdom of God is and means.

The Kingdom of God is when God reigns supreme over the affairs of men. He’s not doing that now, though He is the one that removes and establishes kings. He’s letting man have his way, proving to man that man is incapable of charting his own destiny, and that man is incapable of truly looking after those he’s entrusted with.

The Lord’s Prayer says, “Thy Kingdom come… they will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

God’s will is that His Kingdom prevail in the earth. It’s not here yet or the prayer wouldn’t be, “They Kingdom come” but rather “Thy Kingdom is here.” See the difference?

Oh some claim that Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” New agers and occultists love this verse, but they didn’t look into the Greek from which it was translated.

The Kingdom of God was ‘in the midst of” them because Jesus was there representing God Himself. The Kingdom of God requires an accurate, full representation of God in the earth.

The Kingdom of God is coming. You can read about it in the book of Revelation, when Jesus sets up His Kingdom in Jerusalem. We refer to it as the Millennial rule of Christ. During that time the devil and his host will be chained up and prevented from influencing anyone or anything, evil will be subdued, and Christ will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords over the entire earth.

This prayer wasn’t given by our Lord to be recited. He was asked, “how do we pray” and he gave them guidelines to answer their question. He even says not to use vain “repetitions” like the heathen do, indicating we should talk to God like we would our Father. How would your earthly father like it if you kept repeating the same thing over and over to him and never entered into a true and vital relationship with him? Just speak your heart and follow the guidelines Jesus gave us.

We pray for God’s kingdom to come onto earth. We, the church, are representative of the Kingdom of God on the earth but the Kingdom is still future. People can get a glimpse of it through us as we live and do God’s will in truth, but the fullness of that Kingdom is yet to come.

Come, Lord Jesus! Come establish your kingdom on earth. Let the earth declare your glory and let all creatures praise your holy name for you are indeed King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Savior of the world.